Method, computer program product, and apparatus for providing an energy map

ABSTRACT

A method for providing an energy map may include receiving an indication of status for each of a plurality of individual entities with respect to corresponding priorities defined for each respective individual entity, correlating received indications of status to respective group priorities, providing a representation of a plurality of the group priorities, and mapping an amount of energy associated with the group priorities by providing a graphical representation of a respective amount of resources associated with the group priorities based on the received indications.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.13/448,143, filed Apr. 16, 2012, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 12/184,764, filed Aug. 1, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No.8,161,408, which are hereby incorporated herein in their entirety byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to technologiesrelated to facilitating management processes, and more particularly, toa mechanism for enabling an individual to review the amount of energydevoted to addressing various group priorities.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many companies or enterprises include executive management teams thathandle various responsibilities related to achieving company priorities.For many senior executives, the definition of company priorities and thetracking of progress toward achieving the defined priorities play animportant role in the performance of their jobs. In this regard, forexample, senior executives often assign tasks to junior team members inwhich each assigned task relates to a company priority. Companypriorities may also have either an implicit or even explicit ranking orlevel of importance associated therewith. Thus, senior executives may,at times, wish to reallocate resources from less important priorities tomore important priorities in order to provide better resourceutilization and more efficient progress toward achieving the mostimportant priorities.

Numerous executive dashboards have been developed in the past in orderto help executives absorb large quantities of information, or at leastkey bits of information, in a relatively short time. In this regard,dashboards often provide a graphical representation of key performanceindicators or other information in a relatively easy to read manner.However, current dashboards are often limited to the specific purposesfor which they have been constructed. Accordingly, it is often difficultfor senior executives to keep track of which team members are assignedto each respective priority and to determine how much energy or whatquantity (or quality) of resources is being devoted to a given definedpriority. Accordingly, it may be desirable to provide an improvedmechanism for tracking company resource utilization. Further, it may bedesirable to provide mechanisms for improving visualization andunderstanding of how execution items are aligned to achieve companystrategies.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to improve capabilities with respect to tracking the energy orresources devoted to company priorities, some embodiments of the presentinvention may provide a mechanism for enabling a mapping of the energydevoted to particular priorities. Some embodiments may further enable acomparison between an ordering or importance of a defined priority andthe amount of energy devoted to the defined priority relative to otherdefined priorities. Moreover, the solution provided by embodiments ofthe present invention may provide a mechanism for providing an energymap displaying a graphical representation of the amount of resources(e.g., energy) being devoted to a plurality of different priorities sothat it may be appreciated as to how company resources are allocatedwith respect to the goals or priorities that the company has defined tobe most important. Accordingly, an appreciation may be achieved withrespect to situations for which a reordering of priorities or areallocation of resources may be desirable.

In one exemplary embodiment, a method for providing an energy map isprovided. The method may include receiving an indication of status foreach of a plurality of individual entities with respect to correspondingpriorities defined for each respective individual entity, correlatingreceived indications of status to respective group priorities, providinga representation of a plurality of the group priorities, and mapping anamount of energy associated with the group priorities by providing agraphical representation of a respective amount of resources associatedwith the group priorities based on the received indications.

In another exemplary embodiment, a computer program product forproviding an energy map is provided. The computer program productincludes at least one computer-readable storage medium havingcomputer-executable program code instructions stored therein. Thecomputer-executable program code instructions may include multipleexecutable portions. In this regard, the program code instruction may befor receiving an indication of status for each of a plurality ofindividual entities with respect to corresponding priorities defined foreach respective individual entity. The second program code instructionmay be for correlating received indications of status to respectivegroup priorities. The third program code instruction may be forproviding a representation of a plurality of the group priorities. Thefourth program code instruction may be for mapping an amount of energyassociated with the group priorities by providing a graphicalrepresentation of a respective amount of resources associated with thegroup priorities based on the received indications.

In another exemplary embodiment, an apparatus for providing an energymap is provided. The apparatus may include a processor configured tocontrol a priority tracker and an energy mapper. The priority trackermay be configured to receive an indication of status for each of aplurality of individual entities with respect to correspondingpriorities defined for each respective individual entity and correlatereceived indications of status to respective group priorities. Theenergy mapper may be configured to provide a representation of aplurality of the group priorities and map an amount of energy associatedwith the group priorities by providing a graphical representation of arespective amount of resources associated with the group prioritiesbased on the received indications.

Embodiments of the present invention may be employed to produce anexecutive dashboard that may provide an energy map to enable moreefficient management of resources with respect to tracking and achievingdefined priorities.

In another exemplary embodiment, a method is provided that includesreceiving one or more indications of status for a plurality ofindividual entities with respect to corresponding execution elementsdefined for each respective individual entity of the individualentities; correlating the indications of status to at least oneindividual entity priority in a set of individual entity priorities fora time period; correlating each of the individual entity priorities forthe time period to at least one group priority in a set of grouppriorities for the same time period; correlating each group priority ina set of group priorities for a time period to at least one grouppriority in a set of group priorities for a subsequent time period;providing a representation of connections between a group priority for arespective time period and one or more group priorities for a subsequenttime period or one or more individual entity priorities, or arepresentation of connections between an individual entity priority andone or more execution elements; and mapping an amount of human energyassociated with the group priorities or the individual entity prioritiesby providing one or more graphical representations of an amount ofresources associated with the group priorities or the individual entitypriorities based on the indications of status.

In some embodiments, the method may further comprise definingconnections between one or more execution elements and one or moreindividual entity priorities; defining connections between one or moreindividual entity priorities and one or more group priorities in a sametime period; and defining connections between one or more grouppriorities in a respective time period and one or more group prioritiesin a subsequent time period.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will nowbe made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn toscale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a basic block diagram illustrating a system for providingintra-company communication according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a basic block diagram of an apparatus for providing an energymap according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart according to an exemplary method for providing anenergy map according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention;

FIGS. 4a-c illustrate an exemplary display of an interface for providinginformation related to quarterly planning according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 5a-c illustrate an exemplary display of an interface for providinginformation related to yearly planning according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 6a-b show a display of an interface for providing informationrelated to three to five year planning according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of an interface page that may be used todefine information regarding yearly planning according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of an interface page that may be used todefine information regarding quarterly planning according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 9a-b illustrate an exemplary display in which metric relatedinformation may be provided according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 10a-b illustrates an example of a core values health check pageaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 illustrates a display of a page for defining strengths,weaknesses, opportunities and/or threats according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 12a-e illustrate a display for a page for providing or accessingother information that may be applicable to priority definitionaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 13a-d illustrate an exemplary executive dashboard displayaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 14a-c illustrate a display of an energy map for an exemplaryexecutive dashboard display according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart according to an exemplary method of providing anenergy map according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 illustrates an exemplary display interface for providingconnections between strategy items and annual goals according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 17 illustrates an exemplary display interface for providingconnections between strategy items and annual goals according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 illustrates an exemplary display interface for providingconnections between quarterly company/group goals and annual goalsaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 19 illustrates an exemplary display interface for providingconnections between quarterly individual goals and quarterlycompany/group goals according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 20 illustrates an exemplary display interface for providingconnections between task/action items and quarterly individual goalsaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present inventions now will be described more fullyhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some,but not all embodiments of the inventions are shown. Indeed, theseinventions may be embodied in many different forms and should not beconstrued as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, theseembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicablelegal requirements. Like reference numerals refer to like elementsthroughout.

Embodiments of the present invention may provide a mechanism fordefining company priorities at various different levels and also forvarious different time periods. The defined priorities may correspond toevents, tasks, projects, goals, milestones, or various other mechanismsfor measuring progress or status. In some cases, a single priority mayinclude a plurality of different events or tasks associated withachieving completion of an overall priority, event or task. Given theflexibility provided by exemplary embodiments with respect to level andtime period applicability, short term, intermediate, and long term goalsor priorities may be effectively defined and/or tracked in an efficientmanner. A system for providing and managing the information associatedwith exemplary embodiments as well as some examples of devices forproviding and managing such information will be described below.Moreover, several user interface options or examples for enabling thedefinition of and/or tracking of priorities at the various levels and/ortime periods will be described below in order to illustrate oneexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a basic block diagram illustrating a system 10 for providingintra-company communication according to an exemplary embodiment. Itshould be noted that while FIG. 1 and other figures will be describedmainly in the context of executive management teams, embodiments of thepresent invention are not limited to applications related to executivemanagement teams, but could be practiced with many other companies ororganizations of varying sizes. For example, management of teams,businesses, faculty, staff, employees or organizations of differentlevels of sophistication could also be practiced in connection with someembodiments. Thus, the description of executive management teaminformation and the corresponding system and component descriptions thatfollow should be understood to be exemplary of one system for employingone exemplary embodiment of the present invention and should not betreated as limiting with respect to other systems that may utilizeembodiments of the present invention. Many types of information may alsobe managed by embodiments of the present invention including, but notlimited to those mentioned herein.

As shown in FIG. 1, the system 10 may include one or more clients 20that may, in some cases, be associated with different correspondingexecutive team members or business units of a company. For example, oneclient 20 may be associated with a first business unit or companyexecutive and a second client 20 may be associated with a secondbusiness unit or company executive. However, multiple executives orbusiness units may alternatively use or be associated with a singleclient. The business units or executives may be geographicallycollocated or remote from each other.

Each client 20 may be, for example, a computer (e.g., a personalcomputer, laptop computer, network access terminal, or the like) or maybe another form of computing device (e.g., a personal digital assistant(PDA), cellular phone, or the like) capable of communication with anetwork 30. As such, for example, each client 20 may include (orotherwise have access to) memory for storing instructions orapplications for the performance of various functions and acorresponding processor for executing stored instructions orapplications. Each client 20 may also include software and/orcorresponding hardware for enabling the performance of the respectivefunctions of the clients as described below. In an exemplary embodiment,one or more of the clients 20 may include a client application 22configured to operate in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention. In this regard, for example, the client application22 may include software for enabling a respective one of the clients 20to communicate with the network 30 for the provision of and receipt ofinformation associated with providing an energy map. As such, forexample, the client application 22 may include corresponding executableinstructions for configuring the client 20 to provide correspondingfunctionalities for the provision of and receipt of informationassociated with providing an energy map as described in greater detailbelow. Moreover, in an exemplary embodiment, the client application 22may include functionality for providing an executive dashboard includingthe energy map.

The network 30 may be a data network, such as a local area network(LAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN)(e.g., the Internet), and/or the like, which may couple the clients 20to devices such as processing elements (e.g., personal computers, servercomputers or the like) or databases. Communication between the network30, the clients 20 and the devices or databases (e.g., servers) to whichthe clients 20 are coupled may be accomplished by either wireline orwireless communication mechanisms and corresponding protocols.

In an exemplary embodiment, one of the devices to which the clients 20may be coupled via the network 30 may include a web server 40,application services 44 and/or a database server 48, which together mayform respective elements of a server network 32. The web server 40, theapplication services 44 and the database server 48 may each includehardware and/or software for configuring the web server 40, theapplication services 44 and the database server 48, respectively, toperform various functions. As such, for example, the web server 40 mayinclude processing logic and memory enabling the web server 40 to accessand/or execute stored computer readable instructions for performingvarious functions. In an exemplary embodiment, one function that may beprovided by the web server 40 (and/or the application services 44) maybe the provision of an energy map to the clients 20. Additionally oralternatively, the web server 40 (and/or the application services 44)may be configured to enable the clients 20 to provide information to theweb server 40, for use by the web server 40 in producing, maintainingand/or supplying the energy map. In this regard, for example, the webserver 40 may include or have access to memory (e.g., internal memory orthe database server 48) for storing instructions or applications for theperformance of various functions and a corresponding processor forexecuting stored instructions or applications. In an exemplaryembodiment, the web server 40 may include a server application 42configured to operate in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention. Additionally or alternatively, the applicationservices 44 may include one or more applications 46 that may supportfunctionality of the application services 44 and/or the web server 40 inaccordance with exemplary embodiments. In this regard, for example, theserver application 42 (or one or more of the applications 46) mayinclude software for enabling the web server 40 (or the applicationservices 44) to communicate with the network 30 and/or the clients 20for the provision and/or receipt of information associated withproviding an energy map. As such, for example, the server application 42may include corresponding executable instructions for configuring theweb server 40 to provide corresponding functionalities for the provisionand/or receipt of information associated with providing an energy map asdescribed in greater detail below. Furthermore, in an exemplaryembodiment, the server application 42 (and/or the applications 46) mayinclude functionality for providing an executive dashboard including theenergy map.

An exemplary embodiment of the invention will now be described withreference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 2 shows certain elements of anapparatus for providing an energy map according to an exemplaryembodiment. FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a method for providing anenergy map according to an exemplary embodiment. The apparatus of FIG. 2may be employed, for example, on a client (e.g., any of the clients 20of FIG. 1) or a variety of other devices (such as, for example, anetwork device, server, proxy, or the like (e.g., the web server 40 ofFIG. 1)). Alternatively, embodiments may be employed on a combination ofdevices. Accordingly, some embodiments of the present invention may beembodied wholly at a single device (e.g., the web server 40) or bydevices in a client/server relationship (e.g., the web server 40 and oneor more clients 20). Furthermore, it should be noted that the devices orelements described below may not be mandatory and thus some may beomitted in certain embodiments.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an apparatus for providing an energy map isprovided. The apparatus may include or otherwise be in communicationwith a processor 50, a user interface 52, a communication interface 54and a memory device 56. The memory device 56 may include, for example,volatile and/or non-volatile memory. The memory device 56 may beconfigured to store information, data, applications (e.g., the clientapplication 22 or the server application 42), instructions or the likefor enabling the apparatus to carry out various functions in accordancewith exemplary embodiments of the present invention. For example, thememory device 56 could be configured to buffer input data for processingby the processor 50. Additionally or alternatively, the memory device 56could be configured to store instructions for execution by the processor50. As yet another alternative, the memory device 56 may be one of aplurality of databases that store information.

The processor 50 may be embodied in a number of different ways. Forexample, the processor 50 may be embodied as various processing meanssuch as a processing element, a coprocessor, a controller or variousother processing devices including conventional computer processors orintegrated circuits such as, for example, an ASIC (application specificintegrated circuit), an FPGA (field programmable gate array), a hardwareaccelerator, signal processor, or the like. In an exemplary embodiment,the processor 50 may be configured to execute instructions stored in thememory device 56 or otherwise accessible to the processor 50.

Meanwhile, the communication interface 54 may be any means such as adevice or circuitry embodied in either hardware, software, or acombination of hardware and software that is configured to receiveand/or transmit data from/to a network (e.g., the network 30) and/or anyother device or module in communication with the apparatus. In thisregard, the communication interface 54 may include, for example, anantenna and supporting hardware and/or software for enablingcommunications with a wireless communication network and/or acommunication modem and/or other hardware/software for supportingcommunication via cable, digital subscriber line (DSL), universal serialbus (USB) or other wireline based communication mechanisms.

The user interface 52 may be in communication with the processor 50 toreceive an indication of a user input at the user interface 52 and/or toprovide an audible, visual, mechanical or other output to the user. Assuch, the user interface 52 may include, for example, a keyboard, amouse, a joystick, a touch screen, trackball, a display, a microphone, aspeaker, or other input/output mechanisms. In an exemplary embodiment inwhich the apparatus is embodied as a server or some other networkdevice, the user interface 52 may be limited, or even eliminated.However, in an embodiment in which the apparatus is embodied as a clientdevice, the user interface 52 may include, among other devices orelements, any or all of a speaker, a microphone, a display, and akeyboard or the like.

In an exemplary embodiment, the processor 50 may be embodied as, includeor otherwise control a priority definer 58, a priority tracker 60, andan energy mapper 62. The priority definer 58, the priority tracker 60,and the energy mapper 62 may each be any means such as a device orcircuitry embodied in hardware, software or a combination of hardwareand software that is configured to perform the corresponding functionsof the priority definer 58, the priority tracker 60, and the energymapper 62, respectively, as described below. In some embodiments, aninstance of each of the priority definer 58, the priority tracker 60,and the energy mapper 62 may be included at either or both of theclients 20 (e.g., via the client application 22) and the web server 40(e.g., via the server application 42). However, in other embodiments oneor more of the priority definer 58, the priority tracker 60, and theenergy mapper 62 may be instantiated at the clients 20, while at leastremaining ones of the priority definer 58, the priority tracker 60, andthe energy mapper 62 are embodied at the web server 40.

The priority definer 58 may be configured to enable priorities to bedefined. In this regard, for example, the priority definer 58 maygenerate popup windows, control consoles, or other user interfacemechanisms to enable entry of priorities and/or information associatedwith defined priorities. As an example, the priority definer 58 may beconfigured to provide a user interface to enable a user (e.g., one ormore executive team members) to enter information for use in definingcompany priorities such as core purpose, core values, core competencyinformation and/or the like. FIG. 4a illustrates an exemplary display ofsuch an interface. In this regard, as shown in FIG. 4a , multiple corevalues and/or core competencies may be defined for a particular corepurpose. Once provided, the information may be linked to otherinformation or may be reviewed (e.g., via the client application 22),approved, augmented or commented on by members of the executive team.The information may provide background or a basis for the definition ofpriorities via other interface mechanisms. FIGS. 4b and 4c illustrate anadditional exemplary display interface to enter information for use indefining company priorities such as core purpose, core values, corecompetency information and/or the like.

In some embodiments, the priority definer 58 may also enable a user toprovide information related to company priorities defined with respectto various different time periods. For example, as shown in FIG. 4a ,which illustrates an exemplary display of an interface for providinginformation related to quarterly planning, the priority definer 58 maygenerate a user interface mechanism for defining quarterly themes,outcomes and/or an indication of how success may be measured forquarterly goals. Company priorities or in a more generic sense, grouppriorities, may also be indicated or definable via the interfacemechanism. FIG. 5a illustrates an exemplary display of an interface forproviding information related to yearly planning. As such, the prioritydefiner 58 may generate a user interface mechanism for defining yearlythemes, outcomes and/or an indication of how success may be measured foryearly goals similar to the description provided above. Thus, grouppriorities (e.g., company priorities) may also be indicated or definablevia the interface mechanism. FIGS. 5b and 5c illustrate an additionalexemplary display interface for providing information related to yearlyplanning. Longer term goals may also be defined such as is illustratedin FIG. 6a , which shows a display of an interface for providinginformation related to three to five year planning. FIG. 6b illustratesan additional exemplary display interface for providing informationrelated to three to five year planning.

In some embodiments, certain quarterly priorities may also be reflectedin the yearly priorities or vice versa. Thus, for example, status withrespect to a longer term goal (e.g., a yearly goal) may be measured ordefined in terms of status with respect to shorter term goals at variousincrements (e.g., quarterly). However, it is not necessary for directcorrespondence between the two lists as, for example, some yearlypriorities may have actions deferred to other quarters, or somepriorities may only be defined for a particular quarter and may not berelated to yearly priorities. In embodiments where correspondencebetween priorities exists among different lists, links may be availableto shift between interfaces covering different defined time periods.Additionally, a mechanism for entering or selecting a desired timeperiod for display may be provided.

In an exemplary embodiment, the group priorities defined, for example,at the company level for various time periods may be defined based oninput from one or more executive team members based on the perspectivesof each such team member. The input may be provided, for example, viaone of the clients 20. In some cases, additional material useful fordefining priorities may be provided at various levels to enable theconstruction of group priorities. FIG. 7 illustrates an example of aninterface page that may be used by a team member to define what the yearis about from the team member's perspective. FIG. 8 illustrates asimilar page defined for quarterly periodicity. The theme may beimported from a higher level, or the themes provided at lower levels maybe used to define higher level themes. Outcomes may also be defined aswell as brainstorming ideas for the defined period (e.g., the quarter orthe year). In some embodiments, other team members, employees or groupmembers may vote on brainstormed ideas to determine whether such ideasshould be presented at a higher level or achieve more focused attention.In some instances, the information relating to what the quarter, year orother defined period is about may be dependent upon the group prioritiesthat have been defined and have an impact on the individual, group orteam at another level in an organization. Lower level priorities maytherefore be defined based on higher level themes or priorities and thenecessary impact such themes or priorities have on other individualsbased on responsibilities assigned to those respective individuals.

Along with defining group priorities, the priority definer 58 may alsobe employed to define priorities for individuals based on tasks,priorities, projects or the like assigned to the respective individuals.Other metrics associated with the priorities may also be desirable forconsideration and may also be provided via the priority definer 58 insome embodiments. In this regard, for example, the priority definer 58may be used not only to enable the definition of group and individualpriorities, which may in some cases be defined based on assignedresponsibilities, but the priority definer 58 may also be used to definevarious metrics associated with the defined priorities. Metrics mayinclude various time tables for completion of projects or priorities,measurable milestones regarding illustrating completion or competencywith respect to projects or priorities, process related steps, duedates, etc., or other records. In some cases, the metrics may includeinformation indicative of people, groups, entities, or the like who mayhave a relationship to a particular priority. As such, for example, therelationships between such people may be important to knowing or gaugingthe status of a particular project or priority. The people of interestwith respect to various relationships may be, for example, employeeswith particular responsibilities in a process, customers to whom certainmaterials must be provided, shareholders with deadlines for receivingreports, or others. FIGS. 9a and 9b illustrate exemplary displays inwhich some of the information described above may be provided and/orreferenced in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

In some embodiments, other information may also be provided, referencedand/or managed via the priority definer 58. Some of the otherinformation may be directly related to priority definition, such as corevalues. In this regard, FIGS. 10a and 10b illustrate examples of a corevalues health check page that may provide an entry and/or reviewmechanism for information related to core values, dates associated withthe core values and stories associated with the core values. FIG. 11illustrates a display of a page for defining strengths, weaknesses,opportunities and/or threats that may impact priorities via theindividuals, groups, entities or the like that are associated with therespective priorities. FIGS. 12a-e illustrate displays for a page forproviding or accessing other information that may be applicable topriority definition.

Some embodiments may allow for defining connections between grouppriorities and/or individual priorities to allow for the connecting ofstrategic items (strategies, goals, priorities, etc.) and executionitems. For example, in some embodiments connections may be definedbetween mid-term strategy items and annual company/group goals, betweenannual company/group goals and quarterly company/group goals, andbetween quarterly company/group goals and quarterly individual goals,such as by using priority definer 58. Such embodiments may allow usersto visualize and better understand how execution items are aligned toachieve company strategies. Such embodiments may further allow users tovisualize how daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly execution status iscontributing to the success or failure to achieve company strategies.

The priority tracker 60 may be configured to track updated informationcorresponding to the defined priorities. As such, for example, thepriority tracker 60 may be configured to receive indications regardingstatus from one or more individuals in relation to correspondingpriorities associated with the respective individuals. In some cases,the indications may relate to individual priorities that may beassociated with a group priority. For example, if a group priority isdefined for generating a new company website, individual priorities maybe defined for such related tasks as graphic design, defining the userinterface, interacting with a contractor, or other tasks. Eachindividual task or priority may be assigned to one or more individualscontributing to the corresponding group priority. Thus, for example,each individual may be asked to periodically provide an update withrespect to their own (or their sub-group's) status with respect toachieving certain metrics of achievement, milestones or other measurablecriteria for their respective individual priorities. The prioritytracker 60 may track these updates for correlation with respect to grouppriorities. FIGS. 13a-d illustrate exemplary executive dashboarddisplays according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.FIG. 13a shows a weekly status display 200 indicating, for oneindividual, a plurality of the priorities assigned to the individual(e.g., in column 210) along with a periodic feedback mechanism (e.g.,weekly status indicators 220) for defining status for the correspondingperiod. FIG. 13b shows an exemplary weekly status display ofcompany/group KPIs and FIG. 13c shows an exemplary weekly status ofcompany/group priorities. FIG. 13d shows another exemplary weekly statusdisplay 200 indicating, for one individual, a plurality of thepriorities assigned to the individual (e.g., in column 210) along with aperiodic feedback mechanism (e.g., weekly status indicators 220) fordefining status for the corresponding period.

The weekly status display 200 of FIG. 13a or 13 d may be part of anexecutive dashboard produced by the client application 22 for aparticular team member subsequent to a login of the particular teammember. The dashboard may be customizable to show a particular view tothe logged in team member based on user preferences. Alternatively, theview displayed on initial login may be predefined and navigable tabs orpages may be provided to enable the user to access a page such as theones shown in FIGS. 13a-d . The view displayed may also be dependentupon a time period selected (e.g., yearly, quarterly, etc.). Thus, forexample, a quarter may be broken into weeks and the user may be enabledto provide a weekly status report for each assigned individual priority.In an exemplary embodiment, the weekly status report may be provided byfilling in a corresponding circle or hotspot with a color indicator thatcorrelates to a particular status. Monthly, biweekly, daily, hourly, orany other time periods could alternatively be defined. Furthermore,colored, numbered, or otherwise distinctive flags, shapes or otherindicia may also be defined to correspond with particular statusreports. As such, for example, the user may provide indications withrespect to status by selecting a dark green fill to indicate completionof a priority or lighter green to indicate satisfactory progress (e.g.,relative to defined metrics) and/or expected completion for a particularpriority. Meanwhile, for example, white may indicate an un-updatedstatus, red may indicate failure or inability to complete a project, andyellow may indicate concern over whether a priority can be completed ontime or within defined parameters. Other status indication mechanismscould alternatively be provided. In this regard, the user may be enabledto custom define colors or other indicators and their respectivemeanings.

Based on the inputs defined by numerous individuals, embodiments of thepresent invention may enable tracking with regard to group priorities.In this regard, for example, the priority tracker 60 may be furtherconfigured to correlate the received indications of status from aplurality of individuals to respective group priorities. Thus, thepriority tracker 60 can determine to which group priority eachindividual response corresponds. Based on the correlation, the energymapper 62 can provide a dashboard display useable to graphically displayinformation related to the indications provided.

The energy mapper 62 may be configured to provide a representation ofthe group priorities, which may include providing an indication of apredefined importance associated with each of the group priorities. Insome cases, the predefined importance may be indicated by an ordering ofthe group priorities. However, other mechanisms may also be provided forindicating the predefined importance such as a graded scale valueassigned to each priority or other methods. In addition to providing therepresentation of the group priorities, the energy mapper 62 may befurther configured to generate a graphical representation of arespective amount of resources associated with each of the grouppriorities based on the received indications. As an example, anindicator corresponding to the indication provided by each respectiveindividual may be provided to show how many individuals are working on aparticular priority and also to show the status reported by eachrespective individual.

FIGS. 14a-c show exemplary executive dashboard displays including anexample of pages generated by the energy mapper 62 according to someembodiments. As shown in FIG. 14a , a group priority window 300 may showgroup priorities 310 (e.g., in order of importance or with some otherindicia of importance) and an overall status for each respective grouppriority. More detailed information about each group priority may beaccessible by clicking on or otherwise selecting a corresponding group.Each group priority may also have a corresponding status bar 320providing an indicator 322 for each corresponding individual priorityassociated with the group priority. Thus, the status bar 320 mayindicate the number of individual priorities that have been correlatedto the group priority. Accordingly, by reviewing the status bar 320 fora particular group priority, a user of the executive dashboard maydetermine the amount of resources (e.g., as indicated by the respectivenumber of individuals having individual priorities associated with thecorresponding group priority) associated with the particular grouppriority. The user may also determine that status or each individual andbe able to retrieve more detailed information about any individual orgroup priority via linking to such information.

Such a dashboard view as that shown in FIGS. 14a-c may enable anassessment of whether the importance of the particular group priority isaccurately reflected by the resources devoted thereto. Thus, forexample, situations where highly important priorities are supported bylow numbers of individuals or low importance priorities are supported byhigh numbers of individuals may be discernable. In some embodiments,situations where an imbalance in priority ranking versus resourceallocation may be highlighted to further apprise a user of thesituation. In this regard, for example, the energy mapper 62 may beconfigured to identify or highlight a group priority that has a higherranking, but less devoted resources than other group priorities.

In an exemplary embodiment, each indicator may be selectable to link toinformation associated with the respective individual priorities. Thus,for example, by selecting the indicator 322, the user may determinewhich individual corresponds to the indicator and also see, for example,detailed information about the individual, information about otherpriorities associated with the individual, the current status report(e.g., the status for the current time period), prior status reports forthe same priority, and/or other like information.

In some embodiments, in addition or as an alternative to the grouppriority window 300, a key priority indicator window 350 may also beincluded in the executive dashboard as shown in FIGS. 14a and 14c . Thekey priority indicator window 350 may include a customized list ofpriorities that may be determined by the user to be important fortracking. As such, for example, although some priorities may notcorrespond to important priorities from the company or overall groupperspective, an individual may define particular priorities to be key orimportant with respect to their own particular perspective. Accordingly,the individual may define a personalized priority indicator windowshowing status information in the form of an energy map as describedabove. Either or both of the key priority indicator window 350 or thegroup priority window 300 of FIGS. 14a-c may be understood to representan energy map indicative of the resources devoted to each of variousdifferent priorities.

An exemplary embodiment of the invention will now be described inreference to FIG. 3, which illustrates a flowchart of a method forproviding an energy map according to an exemplary embodiment. As shownin FIG. 3, group priorities may initially be defined at operation 100.Although not required, responsibilities for various ones of the grouppriorities may be assigned at operation 110. Subsequent to, or even via,the assignment of responsibilities, priorities may be defined forindividuals at operation 120. Metrics may also be defined at operation130. In some embodiments, the priority definer 58 may perform operations100 to 130.

After priority definition, tracking with respect to the definedpriorities may be accomplished (e.g., by the priority tracker 60) atoperation 140. The tracking may be accomplished via correlation ofindications regarding the status of individual entities with respect toindividual priorities. A contribution of each individual relative todefined group priorities may then be accomplished at operation 150(e.g., by the energy mapper 62). As a result, a graphical representationmay be provided to show the amount of resources associated with eachgroup priority based on the indications received via correlation of thereceived indications to respective group priorities.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of a system, method and program product accordingto exemplary embodiments of the invention. It will be understood thateach block or step of the flowchart, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart, can be implemented by various means, such as hardware,firmware, and/or software including one or more computer programinstructions. For example, one or more of the procedures described abovemay be embodied by computer program instructions. In this regard, thecomputer program instructions which embody the procedures describedabove may be stored by a memory device of a computing device, andexecuted by a processor of the computing device. As will be appreciated,any such computer program instructions may be loaded onto a computer orother programmable apparatus (i.e., hardware) to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions which execute on the computer or otherprogrammable apparatus create means for implementing the functionsspecified in the flowcharts block(s) or step(s). These computer programinstructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that candirect a computer or other programmable apparatus to function in aparticular manner, such that the instructions stored in thecomputer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture includinginstruction means which implement the function specified in theflowcharts block(s) or step(s). The computer program instructions mayalso be loaded onto a computer or other programmable apparatus to causea series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or otherprogrammable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process suchthat the instructions which execute on the computer or otherprogrammable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functionsspecified in the flowcharts block(s) or step(s).

Accordingly, blocks or steps of the flowcharts support combinations ofmeans for performing the specified functions, combinations of steps forperforming the specified functions and program instruction means forperforming the specified functions. It will also be understood that oneor more blocks or steps of the flowcharts, and combinations of blocks orsteps in the flowcharts, can be implemented by special purposehardware-based computer systems which perform the specified functions orsteps, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computerinstructions.

In this regard, one embodiment of a method of providing an energy map,as shown in FIG. 15, includes receiving an indication of status for eachof a plurality of individual entities with respect to correspondingpriorities defined for each respective individual entity at operation610 and correlating received indications of status to respective grouppriorities at operation 620. The method may further include providing arepresentation of a plurality of the group priorities at operation 630and mapping an amount of energy associated with the group priorities byproviding a graphical representation of a respective amount of resourcesassociated with the group priorities based on the received indicationsat operation 640.

In some embodiments, additional optional operations may also beperformed. Some examples of optional operations are shown in FIG. 15 indashed lines. For example, the method may further include defining thegroup priorities, defining the individual priorities based on thedefined group priorities, and defining metrics associated with theindividual priorities at operation 600. In an exemplary embodiment, themethod may further include enabling access to detailed informationregarding each of the resources via selection of graphical indiciacorresponding to each respective one of the resources at operation 650.

In an exemplary embodiment, providing the representation of theplurality of the group priorities may include presenting the grouppriorities ordered based on a predefined importance to enable acomparison between the predefined importance of a group priority and themapped amount of energy for the group priority or providing a graphicalindicia of status with respect to each of the group priorities. In somecases, mapping the amount of energy associated with the group prioritiesmay include providing graphical indicia of status with respect to eachof the resources based on a corresponding received indication for eachof the resources. In an exemplary embodiment, enabling access todetailed information may include providing a link to informationspecific to an individual entity associated with the selected graphicalindicia. The detailed information may include a report of progress ofthe individual entity with respect to various defined metrics.

FIG. 16 illustrates an exemplary display interface for providingconnections between strategy items and annual goals according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 16 illustrates adisplay of strategy items provided on strategic plan screen 1600. Thestrategic plan screen 1600 may display multiple Mid-Term Strategy Items1602 that have been defined for a company. Graphic icons 1604 displaythe number of currently working annual goals which have been defined asconnected to each respective mid-term strategy item. Strategic planscreen 1600 may provide a visualization of connections between mid-termstrategy items and annual goal items and the amount of work beingapplied to achieve specific strategy items. In some embodiments, a usermay view detailed information associated with a particular strategyitem, as illustrated in FIG. 17, by selecting a displayed strategy item,such as by clicking on a mid-term strategy item 1602.

FIG. 17 illustrates an exemplary display interface for providingconnections between strategy items and annual goals according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 17 illustrates adetail display of a selected strategy item on mid-term strategy itemdetail screen 1700. The mid-term strategy item detail screen 1700 maydisplay the mid-term strategy item 1702 selected by a user. The mid-termstrategy item detail screen 1700 may provide a list of the annual goalitems that have been defined as connected to the mid-term strategy item,such as annual goal items 1704. The mid-term strategy item detail screen1700 may also provide an indication of the number of quarterly goalsitems that have been defined as connected to each annual goal item, aswell as the execution status of each of the quarterly goals items, suchas by status icons 1706. The mid-term strategy item detail screen 1700may provide a visualization of the connections between a particularmid-term strategy item and annual goal items and the amount of workbeing applied to achieve the specific strategy item and annual goalitems. In some embodiments, a user may view detailed informationassociated with a particular annual goal item, as illustrated in FIG.18, by selecting a displayed annual goal item, such as by clicking on anannual goal item 1704.

FIG. 18 illustrates an exemplary display interface for providingconnections between quarterly company/group goals and annual goalsaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 18illustrates a detail display of a selected annual goal item on annualgoal item detail screen 1800. The annual goal item detail screen 1800may display the annual goal item 1802 selected by a user, such as onmid-term strategy item detail screen 1700. The annual goal item detailscreen 1800 may display any mid-term strategy items connected to theannual goal item, such as mid-term strategy item 1804. The annual goalitem detail screen 1800 may provide a list of the quarterlycompany/group goal items that have been defined as connected to theannual goal item, such as quarterly company/group goal items 1806. Theannual goal item detail screen 1800 may also provide an indication ofexecution status of each of the quarterly goal items connected to theselected annual goal item, such as by status icons 1808. The annual goalitem detail screen 1800 may provide a visualization of the connectionsbetween a particular annual goal item and quarterly company/group goalitems and the amount of work being applied to achieve the specificannual goal item. In some embodiments, a user may view detailedinformation associated with a particular quarterly company/group goalitem, as illustrated in FIG. 19, by selecting a displayed quarterlycompany/group goal item, such as by clicking on a quarterlycompany/group goal item 1806.

FIG. 19 illustrates an exemplary display interface for providingconnections between quarterly individual goals and quarterlycompany/group goals according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 19 illustrates a detail display of a selected quarterlycompany/group goal item on quarterly company/group goal item detailscreen 1900. The quarterly company/group goal item detail screen 1900may display the quarterly company/group goal item 1902 selected by auser, such as on annual goal item detail screen 1800. The quarterlycompany/group goal item detail screen 1900 may display any annual goalitems connected to the quarterly company/group goal item, such as annualgoal item 1904. The quarterly company/group goal item detail screen 1900may provide a list of the quarterly individual goal items that have beendefined as connected to the quarterly company/group goal item, such asquarterly individual goal items 1906. The quarterly company/group goalitem detail screen 1900 may also provide an indication of executionstatus of each of the quarterly individual goal items connected to theselected quarterly company/group goal item, such as by status icons1908. The quarterly company/group goal item detail screen 1900 mayprovide a visualization of the connections between a particularquarterly company/group goal item and quarterly individual goal itemsand the amount of work being applied to achieve the specific quarterlycompany/group goal item. In some embodiments, a user may view detailedinformation associated with a particular quarterly individual goal item,as illustrated in FIG. 20, by selecting a displayed quarterly individualgoal item, such as by clicking on a quarterly individual goal item 1906.

FIG. 20 illustrates an exemplary display interface for providingconnections between task/action items and quarterly individual goalsaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 20illustrates a detail display of a selected quarterly individual goalitem on quarterly individual goal item detail screen 2000. The quarterlyindividual goal item detail screen 2000 may display the quarterlyindividual goal item 2002 selected by a user, such as on quarterlycompany/group goal item detail screen 1900. The quarterly individualgoal item detail screen 2000 may display any quarterly company/groupgoal items connected to the quarterly individual goal item, such asquarterly company/group goal item 2004. The quarterly individual goalitem detail screen 2000 may provide a list of the individual task/actionitems that have been defined as connected to the quarterly individualgoal item, such as individual task/action items 2006. The quarterlyindividual goal item detail screen 2000 may provide a visualization ofthe connections between a particular quarterly individual goal item andindividual task/action items. Such embodiments may providevisualizations allowing users to effectively understand how strategiesare being worked from a strategic item level down to an individual tasklevel.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forthherein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which theseembodiments pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in theforegoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is tobe understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specificembodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments areintended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a genericand descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

That which is claimed:
 1. A method comprising: receiving one or moreindications of status for a plurality of individual entities withrespect to corresponding execution elements defined for each respectiveindividual entity of the individual entities; correlating theindications of status to at least one individual entity priority in aset of individual entity priorities for a time period; correlating eachof the individual entity priorities for the time period to at least onegroup priority in a set of group priorities for the same time period;correlating each group priority in a set of group priorities for a timeperiod to at least one group priority in a set of group priorities for asubsequent time period; providing a representation of connectionsbetween a group priority for a respective time period and one or moregroup priorities for a subsequent time period or one or more individualentity priorities, or a representation of connections between anindividual entity priority and one or more execution elements; andmapping an amount of human energy associated with the group prioritiesor the individual entity priorities by providing one or more graphicalrepresentations of an amount of resources associated with the grouppriorities or the individual entity priorities based on the indicationsof status.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: definingconnections between one or more execution elements and one or moreindividual entity priorities; defining connections between one or moreindividual entity priorities and one or more group priorities in a sametime period; and defining connections between one or more grouppriorities in a respective time period and one or more group prioritiesin a subsequent time period.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein providinga representation of connections further comprises enabling access todetailed information regarding each of the connected group priorities orindividual entity priorities via selection of a graphical indiciacorresponding to each displayed connection.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein mapping the amount of the human energy associated with the grouppriorities or the individual entity priorities further comprisesproviding a graphical indicia of status with respect to each of theresources based on a corresponding received indication for each of theresources.
 5. A computer program product comprising a non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium and computer program instructionsstored therein, the computer program instructions comprising commuterprogram instructions configured to: receive one or more indications ofstatus for a plurality of individual entities with respect tocorresponding execution elements defined for each respective individualentity of the individual entities; correlate the indications of statusto at least one individual entity priority in a set of individual entitypriorities for a time period; correlate each of the individual entitypriorities for the time period to at least one group priority in a setof group priorities for the same time period; correlate each grouppriority in a set of group priorities for a time period to at least onegroup priority in a set of group priorities for a subsequent timeperiod; provide a representation of connections between a group priorityfor a respective time period and one or more group priorities for asubsequent time period or one or more individual entity priorities, or arepresentation of connections between an individual entity priority andone or more execution elements; and map an amount of human energyassociated with the group priorities or the individual entity prioritiesby providing one or more graphical representations of an amount ofresources associated with the group priorities or the individual entitypriorities based on the indications of status.
 6. The computer programproduct of claim 5 further comprising the commuter program instructionsconfigured to: define connections between one or more execution elementsand one or more individual entity priorities; define connections betweenone or more individual entity priorities and one or more grouppriorities in a same time period; and define connections between one ormore group priorities in a respective time period and one or more grouppriorities in a subsequent time period.
 7. The computer program productof claim 5, wherein providing a representation of connections furthercomprises enabling access to detailed information regarding each of theconnected group priorities or individual entity priorities via selectionof a graphical indicia corresponding to each displayed connection. 8.The computer program product of claim 5, wherein mapping the amount ofthe human energy associated with the group priorities or the individualentity priorities further comprises providing a graphical indicia ofstatus with respect to each of the resources based on a correspondingreceived indication for each of the resources.
 9. An apparatuscomprising at least one processor and at least one memory includingcomputer program instructions, the at least one memory and the commuterprogram instructions being configured to, in cooperation with the atleast one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive one ormore indications of status for a plurality of individual entities withrespect to corresponding execution elements defined for each respectiveindividual entity of the individual entities; correlate the indicationsof status to at least one individual entity priority in a set ofindividual entity priorities for a time period; correlate each of theindividual entity priorities for the time period to at least one grouppriority in a set of group priorities for the same time period;correlate each group priority in a set of group priorities for a timeperiod to at least one group priority in a set of group priorities for asubsequent time period; provide a representation of connections betweena group priority for a respective time period and one or more grouppriorities for a subsequent time period or one or more individual entitypriorities, or a representation of connections between an individualentity priority and one or more execution elements; and map an amount ofhuman energy associated with the group priorities or the individualentity priorities by providing one or more graphical representations ofan amount of resources associated with the group priorities or theindividual entity priorities based on the indications of status.
 10. Theapparatus of claim 9, further comprising the at least one memory and thecommuter program instructions being configured to cause the apparatusto: define connections between one or more execution elements and one ormore individual entity priorities; define connections between one ormore individual entity priorities and one or more group priorities in asame time period; and define connections between one or more grouppriorities in a respective time period and one or more group prioritiesin a subsequent time period.
 11. The apparatus of claim 9, whereinproviding a representation of connections further comprises enablingaccess to detailed information regarding each of the connected grouppriorities or individual entity priorities via selection of a graphicalindicia corresponding to each displayed connection.
 12. The apparatus ofclaim 9, wherein mapping the amount of the human energy associated withthe group priorities or the individual entity priorities furthercomprises providing a graphical indicia of status with respect to eachof the resources based on a corresponding received indication for eachof the resources.